The Volume of a cereal box tells us how much cereal the box contains. The Surface Area of a cereal box tells us how many square inches of cardboard are needed to make the box. These are important numbers for cereal makers to know when you consider that Americans eat 2.8 Billion boxes of cereal per year.
Cereal Boxes do not have the most efficient dimensions. The same amount of cereal (volume) can be packaged using less cardboard (smaller surface area). Why do you think cereal makers produce these tall thin boxes? |
The front and back of the tent are parallel bases
of this triangular prism. The cereal boxes each have three sets of parallel bases shaped like rectangles, making them rectangular prisms. |